Bad news from the front lines of the War on Pornography, at least where our side is concerned: after a nine month trial in which New York-based fetish photographer Barbara Nitke and the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom attempted to challenge certain provisions of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, a federal appeals panel yesterday ruled against the plaintiffs and "refused to find unconstitutional a law making it a crime to send obscenity over the Internet to children", according to the Associated Press (as if forcing her material onto children over the internet was part of Nitke's agenda in the first place). What effect the ruling will have on an adult online community still reeling from the US government's new 2257 regulations remains to be seen, but it's worth keeping in mind what lawyer John Wirenius wrote on his weblog following the decision: "The fightin' is in rounds. This is round 1."

· "New York judges refuse to say Internet obscenity law is unconstitutional" (AP @ NY Newsday)
· Nitke v. Ashcroft (resources and info @ sethf.com)
· "Nitke v. Ashcroft: Decision" (lawyer John Wirenius @ LiveJournal)